September 2011 – GOT BADDOG

Photos from County Line Orchard

County Line Orchard, Family fun, Hobart, Indiana, Lake County, Photos, pictures, Porter County, Travel / 1 minute of reading / September 11, 2011

Since my time in Indiana is drawing to a close, we have been spending time visiting places we enjoy around here. One of these places is County Line Orchard in Hobart, IN. The thing I like most about County Line is their pumpkin donuts. We took a drive over there today to pick up some of these delicious snacks, then went for a walk through the orchard to take photos of the apple trees. County Line Orchard is good clean family fun, with a petting zoo for the kids. They also let you pick your own apples, so if apples …

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Photos from the Popcorn Fest Party at Pikk’s Tavern

Family fun, food, Indiana, Photos, pictures, popcorn festival, Travel, Valparaiso, Valpo / 1 minute of reading / September 11, 2011

There is a good chance you have heard of Orville Redenbacher and his famous popcorn, but did you know he was from Valparaiso, IN? In 1979 Valparaiso had their first Valparaiso Popcorn Festival to salute Redenbacher and popcorn. This is a two day event with a parade, a 5 mile run and other festivities. As my transportation is limited and the downtown streets are closed off, I once again missed the actual event. However, one of my favorite Valparaiso eateries, Pikk’s Tavern had a Popcorn Fest Party with musical entertainment. After leaving the hot air balloon festival we headed downtown …

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Photos of the 21st annual Kiwanis Hot Air BalloonFest

Family fun, hot air balloons, Indiana, kiwanis, Photos, pictures, Porter County, Travel, Valparaiso, Valpo / 1 minute of reading / September 11, 2011

These photos are from the 21st annual Kiwanis Hot Air BalloonFest at the Porter County Fairgrounds in Valparaiso, Indiana. I was here for last year’s event and enjoyed it thoroughly, so I hoped the weather would allow the event to go as planned. It was scheduled to be a two day event, September 9 and 10, however the weather on Friday did not look like it was going to cooperate, so I did not bother going there. Saturday was dry and not much wind, but the visibility was limited so the balloons did not seem to go as far as …

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Back to Indiana

beer, Don Quijote's, food, Indiana, Photos, pictures, Three Floyd's, Travel, Valpo / 1 minute of reading / September 10, 2011

I am back for what will likely be one of my last visits to Indiana. After a long train ride from Los Angeles, Tanya picked up Buddy and me at the Chicago Union Station. Our first stop on the way back to Valparaiso was to the town of Munster and Three Floyds Brew Pub. I discovered this place back in June and immediately fell in love with their beer. I can not say that I have tried any of their brews that I did not like. Since no visit to Valpo would be complete without a visit to Don Quijote …

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A ride on the Southwest Chief

Amtrak, Buddy, landscape, Photos, pictures, Southwest Chief, Travel / 1 minute of reading / September 10, 2011

Buddy and I needed to come back to Indiana for a while, so we decided to take Amtrak’s Southwest Chief from Los Angeles to Chicago. I have ridden Amtrak from Los Angeles to San Diego, and a few times in the Netherlands, but this was definitely the longest train ride I had ever taken. I was looking forward to the adventure since I have driven between CA and IN numerous times in the last few years. I figured that the train would take us through some scenery I had not seen yet and it would provide for some excellent photo …

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